While the Cleveland Cavaliers have been the talk of the NBA this summer for numerous reasons, the Golden State Warriors have been quietly reloading for another championship pursuit.
The Warriors re-signed many of their key pieces, which should be enough for them to repeat as champs. The team they have met three years in a row in the NBA Finals — the Cavs — added Derrick Rose, but missed chances to acquire many other players. They’ve lost GM David Griffin, and they’ve faced reports of Kyrie Irving wanting to play elsewhere.
So why have the Warriors seemingly avoided the issues that are plaguing the Cavs? David West doesn’t have an exact answer, but he does believe that Golden State’s communication helps them overcome many issues.
“I know what works for us is we communicate,” West said on CBS Sports Radio’s Gio and Jones show Friday. “Draymond (Green) does a good job of just keeping the locker room wide open. Andre (Iguodala) does, too. Any issues we’re having, Steve (Kerr) addresses them. We talk everything out, and everybody’s on the same page.
“I don’t think anybody in the group has ulterior motives where they’re motivated by something other than winning. That’s one of the secrets that we have.”
When it comes to team chemistry, the Warriors do seem to be in a much better place than the Cavaliers and many other teams. But other Western Conference squads have been retooling and working hard to try supplanting them as the champs, so they’ll need to have the desire to repeat as champs in addition to their good communication skills.
